1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rocking mechanism for a piston of an internal combustion (IC) engine. The invention also relates to an IC engine in which the motion of the piston of at least one of a plurality of cylinders is transferable by a said rocking mechanism to a crankshaft.
2. Description of Background Art
Conventional IC piston engines are made in a variety of cylinder configurations. For automotive engines, these include in-line, horizontally opposed and V-type configurations. Particularly with each automotive engine configurations, the engine is sized in volumetric capacity to enable a desired maximum speed and acceleration requirements. However the engine size generally means that at low load conditions, deceleration and braking periods, which together form a major part of the operating time for the engine, fuel consumption is high because the engine needs to be throttled and operates at a much reduced overall efficiency.
Many attempts have been made to reduce the capacity of an IC engine during low load conditions by variable stroke mechanisms and/or by cutting off fuel to some of the cylinders. However, most of these attempts have not been successful or effective. In the case of shutting off fuel to some of the cylinders, there has been some improvements but, because the piston of each of the cylinders to which fuel is shut off is still moving, maximum benefits have not been derived.
The present invention is directed to providing an improved rocking mechanism for an IC engine which, in an engine in which it is provided, is able to be adapted for variation in piston stroke and/or piston de-activation.